SMARTreport - Deuromedia

© photo: Peninsula Group Hotels
www.cleverdis.com
Peninsula Group
Fraser HICKOX
General Manager
Research and Technology
Peninsula Group Hotels
HTNG Director
INTRODUCTION
Interview with...
Mr. Hickox has spent 21 years with the Peninsula Group, and established the Technology Laboratory in
Aberdeen, Hong Kong, where the Peninsula's guest-room technology is developed and refined for use
exclusively in their properties. He is responsible for the refurbishment of the Peninsula Hotels World-wide.
Twenty years ago he opened Asia's first technology hotel, the Kowloon Hotel, with a network system linking
all rooms to a central database and a fax server enabling their guests the opportunity of performing business
functions in their guest rooms. Prior to joining Peninsula, Mr. Hickox worked in television and radio
broadcasting, at an airline in Papua New Guinea, for a Japanese bank, with the Nauruan Government
during the design and installation of a new country-wide telephone system, and on a development line in
Taiwan to gain production line experience. Mr. Hickox was awarded a Ph.D. for his efforts in radio physics.
He holds a number of accreditations from various institutions and is a Director of the China Light & Power
Research Institute.
When Hotels Lead the Way
The Peninsula Group – at the Forefront of Hotel Technology Development
Peninsula Group's design laboratory does research and development for technology to improve
services in guest rooms and elsewhere in nine worldwide Peninsula hotels... This is somewhat
unique in the industry... We asked Fraser Hickox to tell us about the most recent findings...
We are working on a number of projects,
some to be introduced immediately, some
that will be introduced in time and others
that may or may not ever be used. The
technology is, as a matter of principal,
discreet. It should touch the guests but not
know them out. The greatest compliment
we can receive is when our guest travels
to a non-Peninsula and then realises what
was missed.
HDTV has reached critical mass in the US
– what about Europe and Asia?
It is slowly evolving in Asia... very slowly.
Our broadcasters are still undertaking test
transmissions although I understand there
is a push in China in time for the
Olympics. There are now some HD
broadcasts in the US, but I suggest the
European community is making greater
inroads. However the key is content and
not enough is yet available to satisfy the
demand of the major networks, hence the
proliferation of sport and reality
programming.
Hotel SMARTreport October 2007 – April 2008 / 9